Security in nigeria

Hi weam!

Welcome to Expat.com

Armand

That's not much information to come up with a good answer. Being from Lagos and growing up between the local and the expat community I can give you a few pointers at what to do. I saw quite a lot of expats getting killed by not following advice (and that was in the glory 70's and 80's). Visiting Nigeria recently (Lagos, Warri) the advice given decades ago is still valid.

1: Get to know other expats as quick as possible and follow their advice to the point. What ever it is follow it until you have a feeling for the place.

2: Like any community the more people know you and respect you the less you have to fear. I have not seen a single expat get harmed that was popular. I've seen a lot of arrogant and unpleasant expats run into trouble. I assume that rule one applies here. Nice people get more and better advice and tend to follow it.

Always remember that there are millions of people living their life in Nigeria. The ones that live a safe and happy life live by the rules.

In regards to living costs: That depends on what lifestyle you want to live and what you define as eating out. As a rule of thumb you can double the costs of living in Europe or the US if you want to maintain the same standard. If you are happy to dig into local living habits you get away quite cheaply. You will though never pay as little as the local.

In regards to where to live: Very close to where you work if you are in a city. The traffic congestion is horrible. For three months I would suggest to live where you work. Makes room for a multitude of positive experiences by taking the biggest negative one out of the equation.

Hope this helps. I can't wait to get back next year:)

Cheers,
Edward